Happening Today

EQ goes on hiatus

We're taking an indefinite break

Written by Jeff Samsonow

Hi Edmonton,

We just took a brief summer break and, wouldn’t you know it, that has now turned into an indefinite break.

EQ is still mostly a one-person show and, since I’m going to be stepping away right now, this essentially means all of EQ is going quiet. I’m not sure when I’ll come back to it, or if it would look the same, so calling this a hiatus seems like a good fit.

We all know how terrible and strained the media business is these days but, while EQ was yet to be a profitable venture, I’m sliding a number of things off my plate for more personal and health-related reasons. It’s for these same reasons I am not closing the doors completely on EQ just yet. But enough about that, you’re not here for my boring life story!

I cannot begin to properly convey how much I appreciate you reading and sharing stories and items we’ve produced in the last couple of years. It means the world to me personally, but it also means something more to see people embracing local journalism, and journalism that doesn’t always look and feel the same as everything else. I hope you’ll keep supporting this kind of journalism. It feels so important right now.

And please support the writers, producers and creators telling stories that need to be told and those holding people in power accountable (here are most of ours). Journalists get a lot of trash flung at them on social media and it can be reassuring to hear when they’ve done something that helps, something that people like and appreciate. On the flip side, keep demanding more of those in media (and government) you don’t think are doing a good enough job to challenge status quo and lift people up.

See you around the city,

Jeff

In the absence of our posts and newsletters, here are some of the places I would recommend you keep your eyes in Edmonton:

The Yards – for great feature stories and a detailed look at the downtown and Oliver neighbourhoods

Taproot Edmonton – they’ve launched a series of curated emails on local topics and continue to build journalism capacity

Progress Alberta – not news exactly, but sign up for their newsletter for a good dose of what’s going on provincially and how to help build a better province (if you like EQ you’ll probably like PA)

That list is in no particular order and likely definitely leaves out something or someone. But it’s a fairly solid place to start, especially as we head into city budget talks in the fall and an incredibly important provincial election next year.

A couple of spots outside of Edmonton: support The Sprawl in Calgary, The Tyee in B.C. (and Alberta and nationally) and Canadaland(nationally) for more investigative, adversarial, and local journalism.